"Are you serious?" Carter said, eyeing her highly unsuitable evening attire. "You're not exactly dressed for the occasion." This came out more caustic than he had intended, but it wasn't anger that he felt. It was fear. Fear for the drop below to the ground, and terror for the creatures that had invaded what had promised to be just another meaningless society event. He came up beside Serena reluctantly where she stood at the window, watching the mayhem on the street unfold for a long moment with tense, disbelieving eyes.
He shuddered suddenly, forcing his gaze elsewhere. It settled on Serena and he managed to give her a crooked smile. He regarded her for a moment silently, clearly debating something.
"Alright, I'm in. I'll even go first," Carter said at length, still cautiously casting probing glances into the darkness behind Serena's form for any sign of the monsters. "But not until you do something about that outfit. There's no way you're breaking both of our necks when your heel gets caught on a roof tile." He tried to sound mocking, wanted nothing more than to appear like his usual confident, cocky self. But the tension in his body was clear in the awkward way he held himself, as if simply standing still was a battle for him when the sounds from below and the street were urging him to run in blind panic.